South Hebron Hills, Susiya
Tour of kindergartens
We decided to examine which kindergartens exist in the south-east of Hebron. There is a general problem concerning the salaries of the teachers. .The PA does not finance them , nor does Israel. The kindergarten opened but today Huda is fasting before the festival of Id al Adha and so it is closed. We did not visit her but only spoke to herr.
Susiya. We visited Azzam. There is a permanent problem concerning the water. The water pipes of the settlement pass next to their homes. They asked Mekorot to be connected but got no answer. They draw water from the water hole which they built and also bring in tankers. As always there is the permanent problem of the demolition orders. The settlement of Susiya is growing and threatening the Palestinian village. We were offered the best of fruits, labaneh, olive oil and Zatre and of course tea. Azzam says there is no kindergarten. It was close to the school but has closed.
We drove to the school where we were received very pleasantly and with pleasure. But it was a short visit because the school bell rang and the teachers had to leave. There are only about 50 children there. The teachers come from Yatta, the children from Susiya. The way there is very difficult. The principal complains bitterly about the checkpoint which is below the army base (why does one need a checkpoint between Yatta and Susiya?). each morning they are stopped and delayed. In the evenings too. They have to leave the cars and both they and the cars are inspected. They are humiliated …even though the same teachers pass through the checkpoint each morning. He confirms that the kindergarten is closed as there is no building.
Umm al Kheir. We did not meet Delal and Ichlas, the kindergarten teachers, but we spoke with A. who lives in the tents at the entrance. He asked us to help “found” a kindergarten. He promised to help by guarding the materials. We arranged to meet after the holiday.
Tuwani. Naim of the grocery shop asked us to try to persuade Intisar’ so as to open a kindergarent. There is a beautiful building immediately at the entrance to the village – near the clinic. Intisar, a young energetic woman, greeted us warmly. She wants to reopen the garden, but there is no equipment, no wages, and perhaps there were also internal problems of the village. She would turn to the village council – perhaps organize a small fee for the parents. We offered help with equipment and activities. She is happy and interested in to cooperate with us . We promised to return after the holiday and see how to continue. So if there is anyone who has anything relevant to the equipment of a kindergarten it will be a great help.
South Hebron Hills
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South Hebron Hills
South Hebron Hills is a large area in the West Bank's southern part.
Yatta is a major city in this area: right in the border zone between the fertile region of Hebron and its surroundings and the desert of the Hebron Hills. Yatta has about 64,000 inhabitants.
The surrounding villages are called Masafer Yatta (Yatta's daughter villages). Their inhabitants subsist on livestock and agriculture. Agriculture is possible only in small plots, especially near streams. Most of the area consists of rocky terraces.Since the beginning of the 1980s, many settlements have been established on the agricultural land cultivated by the Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills region: Carmel, Maon, Susia, Masadot Yehuda, Othniel, and more. Since the settlements were established and Palestinians cultivation areas have been reduced; the residents of the South Hebron Hills have been suffering from harassment by the settlers. Attempts to evict and demolish houses have continued, along with withholding water and electricity. The military and police usually refrain from intervening in violent incidents between settlers and Palestinians do not enforce the law when it comes to the investigation of extensive violent Jewish settlers. The harassment in the South Hebron Hills includes attacking and attempting to burn residential tents, harassing dogs, harming herds, and preventing access to pastures.
There are several checkpoints in the South Hebron Hills, on Routes 317 and 60. In most of them, no military presence is apparent, but rather an array of pillboxes monitor the villages. Roadblocks are frequently set up according to the settlers and the army's needs. These are located at the Zif Junction, the Dura-al Fawwar crossing, and the Sheep Junction at the southern entrance to Hebron.
Updated April 2022
A Palestinian residentJun-9-2025Fuqiqis - Settler boys arrive with a herd and harass family members
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Susiya
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Susiya The Palestinian area lies between the settlement of Susya and a military base. The residents began to settle in areas outside the villages in the 1830s and lived in caves, tents and sukkot. To this day they maintain a traditional lifestyle and their livelihood is based on agriculture and herding. Until the 1948 war, the farmers cultivated areas that extended to the Arad area. As a result of the war, a significant portion of their land left on the Israeli side was lost. After the 1967 war and the Israeli occupation, military camps were established in the area, fire zones and nature reserves were declared, and the land area was further reduced. The Jewish settlement in Susya began in 1979. Since then, there has been a stubborn struggle to remove the remains of Palestinian residents who refuse to leave their place of birth and move to nearby town Yatta. With the development of a tourist site in Khirbet Susya in the late 1980s (an ancient synagogue), dozens of families living in caves in its vicinity were deported. In the second half of the 1990s, a new form of settlement developed in the area - shepherds' farms of individual settlers. This phenomenon increased the tension between the settlers and the original, Palestinian residents, and led to repeated harassment of the residents of the farms towards the Palestinians. At the same time, demolition of buildings and crop destruction by security forces continued, as well as water and electricity prevention. In the Palestinian Susya, as in a large part of the villages of the southern Hebron Mountains, there is no running water, but the water pipe that supplies water to the Susya Jewish settlement passes through it. Palestinians have to buy expensive water that comes in tankers. Solar electricity is provided by a collector system, installed with donation funds. But the frequent demolitions in the villages do not spare water cisterns or the solar panels and power poles designed to transfer solar electricity between the villages. Updated April 2021, Anat T.
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